The short version
- Your photos are never copied, uploaded, or sent anywhere by PixGlobe.
- PixGlobe reads your photo library's metadata — including where and when each photo was taken — on your device, and stores its index on your device.
- PixGlobe has no accounts, no sign-in, no ads, and is completely free.
- In this version, no analytics are transmitted anywhere — even if you switch analytics on.
- The app sends us nothing. The only data that ever reaches us is what you choose to email us. (If you visit this website, our web host receives ordinary web-request metadata, like any website.)
What PixGlobe stores on your device
When you grant photo-library access, PixGlobe reads each photo's metadata — including a stable photo identifier, location coordinates and their accuracy, capture date, dimensions, media type and subtype, favorite/hidden state, and a modification fingerprint used to detect edits — and stores it in a local database, together with what it derives from that metadata on-device: places, visits, inferred time zones, and place names from a bundled offline atlas. PixGlobe keeps no persistent cache of your photos' pixels: the thumbnails you browse are prepared by the system photo library, bounded to what you're viewing, and purgeable by the system. The full-quality originals stay in your photo library and are never copied into PixGlobe.
This local data is yours to destroy: Settings → Delete All PixGlobe Data removes the on-device photo index, the derived places and visits, caches, and PixGlobe's user-facing settings on the spot; indexing stays paused afterward until you choose Rebuild from Photos (and the reset leaves the map provider's telemetry preference unchanged; if telemetry is disabled, Delete All does not turn it back on). Deleting the app removes all PixGlobe data on the device. Neither touches your photos.
Like most app data, parts of PixGlobe's local storage may be included in your device backups (iCloud or computer backups), which Apple manages under its own privacy terms. PixGlobe's support identifier and analytics state are excluded from backups by construction.
What leaves your device — and what never does
Never transmitted by PixGlobe: your photos, your thumbnails, your photo locations, your places and visits, your photo identifiers, your search queries. PixGlobe's code sends none of these to us or to anyone, and PixGlobe does not add photo data to map requests.
Map imagery (Mapbox)
The globe's map imagery loads over the network from Mapbox, the map provider. Those requests are about the map — which map areas you are viewing at which zoom — and, like all internet requests, they inherently expose your IP address to the provider. PixGlobe requests no device-location permission at all: the app never knows where you are, only where your photos were taken. PixGlobe writes the Mapbox analytics/telemetry opt-out before constructing its first map view, so the SDK's telemetry collection is switched off by default in this app.
The final wording of this paragraph is being confirmed against an on-device network capture. It will state, per the completed counsel assessment, that Mapbox receives your IP address and a monthly billing beacon (a random per-install identifier) retained under Mapbox's policy, and will link to Mapbox's privacy policy. The founder will supply the final approved text and effective date before this page goes public.
iCloud photos
If a photo you view lives in iCloud, the system Photos library downloads it for you via Apple's infrastructure. PixGlobe itself sends photos nowhere.
Analytics — none transmitted
Analytics are off by default. In this version there is no analytics service connected: even if you opt in, events are only recorded locally on your device under a random identifier created after you opt in, and nothing is transmitted anywhere. Events never contain photos, locations, place names, or photo identifiers. If a future version ever adds an analytics service, it will remain opt-in, this policy will be updated first, and the app's App Store privacy label will disclose it.
Support email — only if you send it
If you use Prepare Diagnostic Report, PixGlobe shows you the exact report text for review; you then either send it as an email from your own mail account, or — if Mail isn't configured — copy the text to paste wherever you choose. The report can contain only: your PixGlobe Support ID (a random identifier created on your device), app and iOS versions, aggregate library counts, and recent error codes. It is structurally incapable of containing photos, locations, place names, or timestamps. If you send it (or email us anything), we receive your email address and what you sent, and we use it solely to help you. We don't add support senders to any mailing list, and we don't share the content of support emails.
What PixGlobe doesn't do
No accounts. No sign-in. No payments. No ads. No data sale or sharing with data brokers. No cross-app tracking — by PixGlobe or by the bundled Mapbox map SDK. (Counsel confirmed that nothing in the Mapbox graph meets Apple's tracking definition; the App Store label answer is "Data Not Used to Track You," subject only to the wire capture not surprising us.)
Permissions
PixGlobe asks for photo-library access to do its one job. You can grant full or limited access, change it any time in iOS Settings, and PixGlobe explains — rather than nags — when access is missing. Denying access never breaks the parts of the app that don't need it.
Children
PixGlobe is a general-audience app. It has no social features, no user-generated content sharing, and no web browsing, and it is not directed at children. The app's data behavior described above is the same for every user.
Changes to this policy
If PixGlobe's data behavior ever changes, this policy changes first, with the effective date above, and material changes will be called out in the App Store release notes.
Contact
Questions: support@pixglobe.com (in the app: Settings → Prepare Diagnostic Report, or Settings → Copy Support ID to include your Support ID in any email).